Closing summary
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Here’s a summary of today’s top stories, which included Downing Street saying they were not ruling out deploying British troops to the ground, air and sea in Ukraine; a tense meeting with MPs over a new era of austerity, leaked messages from Nigel Farage and attacks on endangered bats…
“Nothing is off the table” in terms of potential troop deployment on air, land or sea for Ukraine, Downing Street said amid questions about whether the prospect of ground forces had become less likely.Asked whether the focus had shifted away from the prospect of ground troops for Ukraine, a Number 10 spokesman said: “No, nothing is off the table on any of these fronts, so I wouldn’t start ruling anything out, but clearly thousands of troops will be required to support any deployment, whether that is at sea, on land or in the air.”
Labour MPs having ‘tense meetings’ over return to austerityLiz Kendall has been having “tense’ meetings with Labour MPs to reassure them about cuts to disability benefits,” Shebab Khan, ITV’s Political Correspondent, reports.n a post on X, Shebab wrote that “One MP told me they left the meeting ‘feeling worse than when they walked in’ while another said they weren’t sure ‘how much longer we can claim this isn’t austerity’.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described the behaviour of suspended Reform MP Rupert Lowe as “disgusting” and “contemptible” in private WhatsApp messages leaked to the BBC. In one message, Farage says Lowe is “contemptible”. When asked by the BBC’s anonymous source, who used to be a party member and is also being investigated for bullying, a claim they deny, why Reform did not allow an investigation to be completed by a lawyer before suspending Lowe, Farage said: “Because he is damaging the party just before elections. Disgusting.”
A YouGov poll found that 61% of people either strongly supported or somewhat supported the government’s commitment to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, while 24% said they somewhat opposed or strongly opposed it and 15% said the didn’t know.Even among those who voted Conservative at the last general election, 52% supported the net zero commitment, 38% opposed it and 11% didn’t know.
The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, accused the NHS of acting in an “immoral” way by depriving needy countries of homegrown health professionals. Brexit has left the NHS increasingly dependent on doctors and nurses from poor “red list” countries, from which the World Health Organization says it is wrong to recruit.
High-profile celebrities including Sir Stephen Fry, Brian Cox and Stanley Tucci have criticised the government’s £5bn cuts to disability benefits, calling the plans “shameful” and “a stain on this country”. Fry said the cuts burden should fall on the best-off in society, rather than hitting vulnerable disabled people: “The social security system should be rooted in justice and compassion, fairness and need. It’s not too late to rethink this.”
More than 9,000 unpaid carers looking after ill and disabled loved ones have become the latest to be hit with carer’s allowance overpayment debts in the past year, prompting calls for ministers to suspend the controversial practice. In total, 144,000 carers now have outstanding repayments after falling foul of drastic “cliff-edge” rules limiting the amount they can earn from part-time jobs while still claiming carer’s allowance benefit.
Tommy Robinson loses court case
The High Court has dismissed an attempt by the far-right agitant Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, to challenge his jail conditions.
Yaxley-Lennon argued that his segregation at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, was destroying his mental health and breaching his human rights.
Dismissing the case, Mr Justice Chamberlain said Yaxley-Lennon’s own barrister had accepted there was no evidence his client had been segregated “for the purpose of breaking his resistance or humiliating or debasing him”.
On the contrary, all the evidence shows [the decision] was taken for his own protection and in the interests of preserving the safety of other prisoners and staff.”
He himself had said, when first detained at HMP Belmarsh, that he had a conflict with the followers of Islam.
It was thus understandable the governor should be concerned that Mr Yaxley-Lennon’s presence might foment unrest or violence between Muslim and non-Muslim prisoners.
The former leader of the English Defence League, known for organising racist and violent protests, was handed an 18-month sentence in October after admitting he breached a court order which had told him not to repeat lies about a Syrian refugee.
Yaxley-Lennon has a long history of criminality and has been found guilty of offences including multiple assaults, mortgage fraud, faking a passport, stalking, contempt of court and various public order offences.
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